Changed
by Alyssacookie
Summary: There have been many events over the years when the world would call upon its Champions for help. The style and brutality with which they fought made them formidable opponents. What if, this time, they had to help without using pokemon? What if they became them? -Gracefulshipping and Lolishotashipping/Blacksteelshipping
1. Visitors

Subject: Meeting

From: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague

To: trekkie-at-unovaleague

CC: mythandlegend-at-sinnohleague, rockmanic-at-hoennleague, dragonmaster-at-indigoleague

Dearest Fellow Champions,

I propose a little get together sometime soon at the Unova league. It's been far too long.

~*Wallace~*

…

Subject: RE: Meeting

From: rockmanic-at-hoennleague

To: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague

CC: trekkie-at-unovaleague, mythandlegend-at-sinnohleague, dragonmaster-at-indigoleague

Wallace.

I'm not even a champion anymore, leave me out of this.

-Steven Stone

…

Subject: Can't Do It

From: trekkie-at-unovaleague

To: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague

CC: rockmanic-at-hoennleague, mythandlegend-at-sinnohleague, dragonmaster-at-indigoleague

Everyone:

My dear Volcarona has been down lately. As he is my first and greatest partner, it is my duty to take care of him. I decline your invitation.

. .

…

Subject: (Sigh)

From: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague

To: rockmanic-at-hoennleague

CC: mythandlegend-at-sinnohleague, dragonmaster-at-indigoleague

Dearest but Mildly Frustrating Fellow Champions,

Steven, you will be coming if I have to go drag you from the caves myself. With full media coverage if need be.

~*Wallace~*

…

Subject: Awful

From: mythandlegend-at-sinnohleague

To: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague

CC: rockmanic-at-hoennleague, dragonmaster-at-indigoleague

What an awful thing to threaten, Wallace. Leave the man to his caves.

On that note, I will also be declining your invitation. I do not see the point of this meeting, nor do I feel the need to leave the Sinnoh region.

Champion Cynthia

…

Subject: Good Idea

From: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague

To: mythandlegend-at-sinnohleague

CC: rockmanic-at-hoennleague, dragonmaster-at-indigoleague

Dearest Antisocial Ones,

A lovely idea, Miss Cynthia! Let's have our meeting in your region, at that lovely little Victorian flavored castle of yours.

~*Wallace~*

…

Subject: RE: Good Idea

From: mythandlegend-at-sinnohleague

To: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague

CC: rockmanic-at-hoennleague, dragonmaster-at-indigoleague

Absolutely not, and I have mixed feelings about you saying that my building has a flavor. I shudder to think of you nibbling on the walls like a Bidoof.

Champion Cynthia

…

Subject: Other Leagues

From: dragonmaster-at-indigoleague

To: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague

CC: rockmanic-at-hoennleague, mythandlegend-at-sinnohleague

Guys,

What's so wrong with using the Hoenn League building or the Indigo Plateau exactly?

:Lance the Dragon Master:

…

Subject: RE: Other Leagues

From: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague

To: dragonmaster-at-indigoleague

CC: mythandlegend-at-sinnohleague, rockmanic-at-hoennleague

Dearest Ones With Poor Aesthetic Taste,

While I love my Hoenn League Building, it is too dull for such a meeting. Until I get permission to make the changes I need, it will never be fit for my grandeur. The Indigo Plateau is very nice, but it is not a castle.

You are all starting to upset me. Cynthia, I'm going over your head.

~*Wallace~*

…

Subject: How

From: mythandlegend-at-sinnohleague

To: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague

CC: rockmanic-at-hoennleague, dragonmaster-at-indigoleague

I can't help but to be curious as to how you will go over the Champion's head in regards to her own building…

Champion Cynthia

…

Subject: Antisocial

From: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague

To: grounded-at-sinnohfour

CC:

Dearest Bertha,

Cynthia's being antisocial again. Would you terribly mind if four of the Champions stopped by for a meeting sometime?

~*Wallace~*

…

Subject: RE: Antisocial

From: grounded-at-sinnohfour

To: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague

CC: mythandlegend-at-sinnohleague, walkinglibrary-at-sinnohfour, bugboy-at-sinnohfour, firestarter-at-sinnohfour

Why, I don't believe any of us would mind one bit. We'll help Cynthia set up and leave you to your privacy.

Bertha

…

Subject: Horrible

From: mythandlegend-at-sinnohleague

To: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague

CC: rockmanic-at-hoennleague, dragonmaster-at-indigoleague

Wallace, even though you have forced Bertha's hand upon me I refuse to be happy about this forced event of yours. I don't forget, pretty boy. I'll never forget.

Champion Cynthia

…

Subject: Oh Dear

From: rockmanic-at-hoennleague

To: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague

CC: mythandlegend-at-sinnohleague, dragonmaster-at-indigoleague

Now you've gone and done it.

-Steven Stone

…

Subject: RE: Oh Dear

From: dragonmaster-at-indigoleague

To: rockmanic-at-hoennleague

CC: gowiththeflow-at-hoennleague, mythandlegend-at-sinnohleague

Guys,

If she lets her Garchomp eat him I won't say a thing.

:Lance the Dragon Master:

…

Due to that conversation, Wallace's coveted meeting was planned.

Even with a good show of cooperation from Steven the story still leaked to the press. Besides Steven Stone himself, who hated being in the public eye, no one thought it was an issue. According to Wallace it was fun. Cynthia found it to be tolerable. Even Lance didn't care so much so long as the attention was positive.

Unfortunately, this time the information reached the ears of a disgruntled genius.

A genius that wasn't a terribly big fan of Champions.

Each Champion arrived at the Sinnoh Castle in different ways.

Wallace coveted media attention, and arrived first on his Gyarados named Marc. Even though the flying and water type could not use Fly, Wallace had discovered how to manipulate the move Bounce as if it could. Such were the talents of a coordinator.

As he circled around to land above all of the reporters and their cameras Wallace commanded Marc to use Hail and Rain Dance in quick succession. The dragon landed in a shower of sparkling ice and glistening rain.

The enigmatic Champion smiled widely and slid off of the Gyarados' tail flippantly before landing on the ground with a dramatic bow. The cameras flashed and even the Gyarados hummed its approval.

After a few pictures, Wallace returned Marc into the Gyarados' dive ball and sauntered inside.

Lance the dragon master flew in on his trusted partner of so many years, Dragonite. The cameras clicked away as the pair landed but aside from wincing from all the flashes Dragonite was unaffected.

The orange dragon waved a bit for the cameras. Noticing his pokemon's friendly gesture Lance copied its friendly stance to the situation.

After a minute or two Lance pulled out his luxury ball. He rolled it in his palms for a moment before returning it to his belt and signaling to Dragonite to follow him inside. His partner complied happily and the pair began walking for the entrance.

They paused at the arrival of Steven on his Skarmory.

Lance winced, uneasy. He knew that Steven wasn't well adjusted to media attention from how good he was at avoiding it. On that note, choosing Skarmory was the worst possible pokemon to handle it. That bird was the single most hostile thing Lance had ever seen.

Even Dragonite tilted his head in concern as they watched Steven descend.

In Steven's defense, Skarmory was well trained enough to stay still so Steven could climb off of its back.

It then immediately let out a roar that screeched and grated, popping a few camera lenses. Blushing in total and utter embarrassment Steven commanded his Skarmory to stop.

To be honest Skarmory was well trained enough to know when to listen. But Skarmory was stubborn and was resolved to do what it felt was most appropriate. At that point it apparently felt the need to continue being aggressive with these reporters.

This was bad.

In the end, Steven decided to return Skarmory to its friend ball, sending out his trusted Metagross to soothe over the damage. It let out a much more moderate and pleasant metallic hum, drawing up its legs and levitating as Steven climbed onto its back.

They followed a chuckling Lance into the Sinnoh Pokemon League.

There was a knock on the door once the meeting had started.

"What was that?"

Cynthia looked annoyed. "We never close those doors," she grumbled, "so when they are closed you are not meant to knock on them."

"I wonder who it could be?" Wallace wondered out loud.

Lance stood up and made his way over to the door. After a few more knocks and scanning the door's surface he turned to Cynthia. "No peephole?" he asked somewhat critically.

The only woman in the room shook her head. "There's never been a need for one."

With a shrug the dragon master opened up one of the solid doors, glancing at Garchomp, Milotic, Metagross, and Dragonite in the corner for security. Right. No one was going to be dumb enough to attack four Champions and their pokemon.

Winona was standing at the door next to her Altaria.

The Champions sighed and glared at Wallace.

"I didn't invite her here!" he sputtered.

Winona invited herself in and her Altaria followed, twittering happily at its surroundings. Wallace's Milotic recognized its friend and sang happily. It stretched its neck out for a better look and to catch Altaria's attention. The bird noticed the creature's efforts and sang in response before fluttering over.

"He's telling the truth," the gym leader said as she pulled out her own chair and sat down, "but Alder got a hold of me and suggested I come. He doesn't trust Wallace."

"For good reason," Cynthia smirked. "Good to have another girl here."

Wallace sank back in his chair with a huff while muttering about how while Winona was in charge of the other gym leaders to a point, she wasn't supposed to be babysitting him. His blush was noticed by the other boys who took the opportunity to laugh at the drama queen's expense.

Eventually the trainers at the table fell into companionable conversation. Cynthia knew of Winona from Steven because Wallace didn't talk about her much. Steven liked to point out subtly that the two had some type of history. The blond guessed that it was of the romantic sort.

The chitchat was again interrupted by knocking on the door, much softer this time. Cynthia frowned deeply before getting up to answer it. "More unexpected visitors?" she grumbled as she heaved open the oak.

It was an old man at the door.

Much less annoyed and a lot more confused, Cynthia opened the door wide enough for the man to step in and closed the door behind him. A Slowking waddled in behind the old man on its stubby legs.

"Hello," Cynthia began awkwardly, "the League isn't open today."

The old man shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs. His Slowking spotted the other pokemon and tottered over to them. "This old brain of mine," he said as an apology. "The league's closed today?"

Steven nodded and narrowed his eyes. "That would be the case."

Cynthia cocked her head in thought. "Do I know you?"

"I'm-" the old man began before a few low rumbles were heard. The Champions all turned their attention to their pokemon who were now slumped against each other in sleep.

Dragonite was snoring quietly, his head resting on one of Altaria's fluffy wings. Metagross looked no different than normal except for its closed eyes. Milotic had wrapped around its fellow pokemon a couple of times before resting its head on Altaria's other wing. Garchomp snapped at the air in its sleep, seemingly disturbed.

The Slowking waddled back to his master.

Alarmed, Steven, Winona, and Lance reached for their pokeballs. Cynthia glared at the old man. "I know you," she muttered. Wallace sat back, quiet for once and staring.

In turn, the lights on the ceiling began to flicker, causing the Champions to look up in alarm. Each of the lights blew in quick succession. A figure formed from the broken glass and darkness.

"Rotom," Cynthia breathed. This was far from a friendly pokemon. The imp-like creature had lived quietly at the Old Chateau for a number of years after causing havoc wherever it could find electricity. The ghost was smiling a little too widely for her liking.

"Use Thunder Wave," the old man commanded with his voice now quiet but steady. Rotom nodded and Cynthia's pupils dilated even as her eyes widened before the little creature discharged. Her eyes were then squeezed shut in pain.

None of the trainers had time to release their pokemon as the jolt of electricity pumped through each of the human's veins. It hurt more than they wanted to admit. Each nerve was on fire as the pain spread outwards. They slumped to the floor, unable to control their limbs.

The boys grit their teeth as their vision and consciousness began to desert them, but Cynthia lost her nerve and shrieked as she folded in upon herself.

They could only watch helplessly as their pokeballs rolled out of their hands. Each trainer shook and convulsed on the floor helplessly.

"Rotom," the man commanded, "use Trick."

Their bodies felt as if they were being torn apart and sucked into a vacuum. The bottom dropped out from underneath them as if they were falling. Their minds gave out. All was silent.

It had gone well.

**Drop a review. You're in for a treat and motivation for the author helps.**


	2. Escape

"Caaaaaaar…"

Steven moaned in protest to his aching head. Gritting his teeth, he tried to open his eyes. Wincing at the sudden intrusion of light Steven continued and was met with blurred vision. The former champion tried to get up before realizing that his arms were tied behind his back. With a sigh, Steven blinked and noticed that half of his body was met with a cold metal floor. Beginning to feel tired once more he let his body relax and his eyes closed.

There were footsteps down the hall. Suddenly anxious, Steven ignored his pounding head and tried to focus on the sound. The footsteps stopped and he couldn't help but to yelp as someone pulled him to sit straight up.

That someone made a 'tsk' noise with their tongue. "He hasn't taken this very well," a man's voice commented.

"I agree," a deeper, more curious voice commented. There was a series of heavy footsteps in his ear.

Steven's vision finally sharpened and focused. He focused on the owner of the first voice. "Old man!" he barked, alarmed.

The man's wrinkles shifted with his smile. "He's awake," he murmured before turning on his heel and walking away. "Take care of him, would you Slowking?"

Steven whipped his head around to see the pink form of the water type sitting off to the side. To his surprise, it spoke. "Don't bark at him," it commanded, "he cannot understand you."

His features hardened into a glare at the pokemon.

It smiled lazily, not intimidated in the slightest. "Look at your feet," it suggested.

Confused, Steven followed the pokemon's instructions. At first glance, the most alarming thing that he noticed was the fact that his legs were furry. His thighs were covered in blue fur and resembled shorts, while the skinner part of his legs had flat black fur.

Reasonably alarmed by this point Steven let out a calming breath and looked the Slowking in the eye. The pokemon lowered his eyelids even further in disappointment. "Oh, you're no fun at all," he complained with a marginal amount of emotion seeping into his tone.

Steven raised an eyebrow, even in his shaken state.

"Fine. Rotom turned you into a Lucario," Slowking admitted.

The former human blurted out, "Why would it do that?"

"I have an IQ of 150," Slowking said with a yawn, "which means I am not dumb enough to tell you. Unfortunately, by using trick we really didn't have the opportunity to choose what you would become. Lucky for you it's a Lucario."

Slowking stood up slowly, brushing imaginary dust off of its thighs. "Lucky for us you don't have much of a grasp on its abilities." Then the other pokemon stared Steven in the eyes for a moment before its eyes began to glow light blue.

The air in the room began to shimmer for a moment, and Steven's headache worsened. All of the sudden the pressure seemed to shift just as Steven was hit with an invisible shockwave.

"Ngh," he grunted as he struggled to get his footing and get into an upright position.

Slowking's eyes began to turn back to normal. In monotone he explained, "Don't be alarmed. I'm only aiming to make you faint."

A beam of electric-looking energy shot out at the Lucario, and Steven instinctively dodged the blast. "That was trump card," he grunted as he recognized the move.

Without answering, Slowking sent another shot of energy out and Steven dodged back to the left. He thought for a moment, trying to calm down. Lucario, being a steel and fighting type pokemon, would do well with both of its hands free. Looking around the room Steven struggled to find anything that would cut the ropes around his wrists.

Slowking and his master had thought ahead, and there was nothing that would be particularly useful for cutting.

After another quick scan, Steven spotted something that might work. It would be a risky move, however.

The Lucario ran directly at Slowking. At the last moment before colliding with the pokemon, Steven flipped over him and held out his wrists. He succeeded at cutting the ropes on the other pokemon's crown, but took a trump card to the chest.

His landing was far less than graceful. The Lucario curled in on his stomach and bit his tongue, trying not to cry out from the pain. He glanced up to see the Slowking nod, impressed.

Steven did the math in his head. Trump card was a move that got stronger every time it was used and Slowking must have used it three or four times now. Most pokemon could only use the move five times.

The room that they were in was small, but had two openings. There was the one that the old man had left through and one other that was blocked by a pair of mechanical doors. Steven dashed in front of the doors and held a defensive position as Slowking sent out the fourth trump card energy shot.

The Lucario let his legs fall out from under him and hit the floor, allowing the blast to continue and blow a hole in the doors.

Steven stared. He had been hoping to overload the doors into the open position, but that worked just fine.

Slowking frowned at Steven, only having his most powerful trump card left.

The Lucario stared back before snapping his gaze to the hole in the doors and back again. He began to wish he knew what moves he had at his disposal. Slowking noticed his hesitation and began to get ready to attack again just as Steven dove for the hole. The attack caught up with him in midair, and Steven put out his hands to guard himself.

Slowking's eyes widened as a blue ball of energy grew in the Lucario's hands and spun off of his own attack. Both attacks were halted from going forward and imploded onto each other. Steven hit the ground and felt the wind rush out of his lungs. Struggling to get up, the pokemon wheezed as he looked across the floor of the room he was now in.

At the end of the room was an orange portal, and without checking behind him for Slowking Steven threw himself onto it.

After a bright flash of light forced Steven to close his eyes, he found himself at the end of a long hallway. He grunted as he propped himself up and began to trudge down the hallway before finding himself in a dimly lit room with three holding chambers.

The foremost chamber was an Arcanine with its eyes screwed shut, struggling against the energy holding it captive. Steven scanned the room, noticing that the power was off, and the other holding chambers were completely inactive. The Arcanine's chamber was plugged into a small generator.

Steven looked at the little machine chugging away before cutting the cords attaching it to the machine with the points on his forepaws. The Arcanine seemed to relax as the energy surrounding it flowed away. It dropped from the machine and hit the floor with a muffled thunk.

The Lucario approached the other pokemon cautiously, noting that it was almost twice his size. He had approached its side before crouching down and reaching out to shake the pokemon awake.

His hand had barely met the dog-like creature's side before the Arcanine's eyes snapped open. Its pupils inside of its brown eyes dilated and it jumped up to tackle Steven to the floor.

"Who are you?" the pokemon growled, its teeth dangerously close to his throat. Steven gulped and tried to shift its huge paw off of his throat.

"I'm Steven Stone," he choked out, "and I mean you no harm. Please get off of me."

"Steven?" the big dog repeated questioningly as it released the Lucario and sat a little ways away, cocking its head. "Is that you?"

He nodded, trying to catch his breath.

"Not you too," the Arcanine whined, placing one paw across the bridge of its snout. "What happened to us?"

Ignoring the question Steven cautiously stepped closer to the larger pokemon. "Who are you?"

The dog shook its head and looked at the smaller pokemon. "Right. It's me, Lance."

Steven blinked a few times in surprise. "Wow."

"What do you-" Lance question was cut off by the sound of footsteps coming towards the room.

Both of the new pokemon locked their gazes on the door to see the old man and Slowking standing there. The man shook his head. "You shouldn't have freed him," he said, sounding disappointed. "Lance gave us quite a few issues when he first woke up. Why, Slowking had to use water pulse just for us to be able to get him into this containment room."

Lance growled at the pair as his fur began to stand on end. "Get on my back," he whispered to Steven out of the side of his mouth. "Grab on and don't let them use water pulse on me."

The Lucario nodded before swinging onto his back, and Lance took off like a shot for the warp panel Steven had arrived through.

"Go find Rotom and the others!" Steven heard the old man call out. "He's using extreme speed!"

Back in the room behind the doors Slowking had destroyed the pair spotted another warp panel at the end of the room, a green one this time. Lance used it and this time the pair found themselves in some type of lobby with doors to the outside. The Arcanine began to go for the doors before Steven shouted for him to stop.

"What is it?" Lance asked.

The Lucario on his back shook his head in concern. "I think Cynthia, Wallace, and Winona are still in here. We have to go help them."

Lance looked towards the door and the sweet scent of freedom and whimpered.

"There's stairs over there," Steven pointed out. "Let's at least go check them out. If there's nothing there we can leave."

When the duo got to the bottom of the stairs they immediately heard the sounds of a struggle. The two followed the sound to a large room with an expensive-looking TV on the wall. Their attention was stolen when a Lopunny flew across the room at a Rotom while using jump kick, but missed and was caught by the electric imp's sucker punch.

The normal type slammed into the ground and rolled into a wall while groaning in pain. Both Lance and Steven winced in sympathy. Rotom floated above the other pokemon with a grin. "Let's finish this, shall we?" it asked before it began to charge itself up for an electric attack.

Steven growled before jumping from Lance's back and tackling Rotom out of the air. The little electric and ghost type squeaked in alarm as the two hit the ground. "Lance," Steven barked, "bite Rotom!"

The Arcanine looked unsure but stepped over the Lopunny before coming to stop next to the two pokemon. "I really don't want to be shocked in the mouth," he whimpered.

"Just do it, I know what I'm talking about," the Lucario pleaded, desperately trying to keep the Rotom underneath him from attacking.

Lance lunged forward as his teeth began to glow white and snapped his jaws shut on the other pokemon's midsection. Rotom shrieked and flinched in pain. Steven jumped away. "Use bite again, it's super effective," he noted.

The Arcanine went to bite the smaller pokemon again but this time it tried to shock him. Each bolt of electricity lit up the room and the crackle of the charge filled the air. Lance's eyes widened at this sight and hesitated as the electricity went straight for his mouth.

Steven watched in awe as the electricity wrapped itself in ribbons around the Arcanine's canine teeth. His teeth began to glow yellow for a moment before dimming, and Lance had the good sense not to question this as he bit down on Rotom once more.

Rotom cried out in pain as the dog like creature held on and shook his head while holding the orange pokemon in the vice-like grip of his jaws. With one last shake Lance let go. The pokemon flew across the room at the television before crashing into it with a resounding crack. After a pathetic groan, the electric type phased into the TV.

Lance howled at his victory before turning around to see Steven on one knee at the side of the Lopunny. The Lucario gave the lean form of the pokemon one good shake. "Are you okay?" he asked curiously.

The brown pokemon groaned before wiping at its eyes with a paw. A moment later, the Lopunny's pink irises made an appearance. These eyes locked on to the Lucario and the Arcanine that had padded up next to him on silent paws.

"Thank you," she said with a grunt as she pushed herself up on one arm.

Lance looked at her with his wide brown eyes. "Who are you?" he asked, his hostile nature all but disappearing.

"I am Cynthia," she responded stiffly as if she almost didn't believe herself.

"Ah," Steven said calmly in recognition. "We are Steven and Lance. It is nice to know that you're okay. We're going to be leaving soon, but have you seen Winona or Wallace yet?"

Cynthia shook her head before standing up. Steven rose with her. "I haven't but there are two warp panels over here," she commented before leading the two males down the stairs. "I was trying to get to them when Rotom stopped me."

"Which one should we take?" Lance asked, his gaze focused on the female.

The Lopunny looked between their two options. "I believe that they were holding me in the room that this left portal leads to," she muttered to herself. "We should take this portal on the right," Cynthia suggested.

When the effects of stepping onto the portal wore off the trio found themselves in a small storage room with one way in and one way out. Lance immediately shoved the old man, who was blocking the portal, out of the way with his wide shoulders as he dashed past to see who he was keeping captive. Cynthia and Steven followed, as Cynthia vaulted over some wooden crates and Steven stopped to face the old man and his Slowking.

Slowking glared as his master grimaced. "I thought I instructed you to take care of him," the man hissed between his teeth. "Now they're all free at once."

The Lucario in front of them shifted into an offensive position and waited.

Behind the crates Cynthia found a Floatzel leaning over a fainted Swellow. "Wallace?" she called out, unsure. The water type perked up and looked at her for a moment to size her up.

"Cynthia?" he asked for confirmation.

The Lopunny nodded and bounded over to the fainted bird. "Is this Winona?" she asked brusquely.

Wallace nodded, looking distressed. "We tried to get past Slowking, but he knows blizzard."

"You would think that Winona would understand the limitations of a flying type," Cynthia muttered.

The Floatzel glared at his ally. "Well, it isn't as if we can know what each other's levels are or know what moves can be used," he snapped.

The female looked away, thoroughly chastised. Lance appeared around the crates and skidded to a stop next to the others. He looked at the Floatzel, then at the Swellow in his paws. With a nod of greeting the larger pokemon shifted himself closer to the ground before barking, "Put her on my back. We've got to get out of here."

Both Cynthia and Wallace helped to put the Swellow, the smallest of any of them, onto Lance's back. He stayed low to the ground and glanced at Cynthia. "Climb on," he said, "Steven and Wallace will hold them off while we start moving."

Cynthia looked to Wallace for his approval. When he dipped his head to give his consent, she swung a leg over the Arcanine's back and wrapped her arms across the unconscious Swellow and around Lance's neck.

Lance paused for a moment before bounding over a crate while Wallace went around the side to cover them. Wallace lunged for the offending Slowking with his fury swipes before the opposing pokemon could stop his friends from exiting. The Arcanine was able to make it out before Slowking pushed Wallace off.

The Floatzel landed next to the Lucario on all fours.

"Wallace," Steven said by way of greeting.

"Steven," Wallace responded in kind without tearing his gaze from their opponents.

Slowking's eyes began to glow blue as Steven skid underneath the old man's legs and Wallace broke the psychic's concentration as he dove above it with a fury swipe onto its cheek. Both pokemon dove into the portal and hit the ground running. Steven led the way to the exit.

**Hope you like it, please review with anything I might of messed up on or anything you particularly enjoyed.**


	3. Direction

Not a single one of the Champions had ever been quite so grateful to feel the crispness of the night air. Looking around, one could see the mountainous landscape of the city from the high point the group was standing on. A few people walked along the paths of the city, some with their pokemon companions.

"Veilstone City," Cynthia acknowledged. She nodded towards the building they had just escaped from before saying, "The supposedly abandoned Veilstone Galactic building."

Steven was about to ask about the criminal organization as the door behind them slid open, revealing Charon and Slowpoke. Lance, with Winona and Cynthia still on his back, took one glance at the pair advancing towards them before bounding down the stairs of the plateau.

Wallace and Steven followed as they winced at the large dog-pokemon's reckless movement. Halfway down the stairs Lance stumbled, throwing both females off of his back. Cynthia dug her knees and palms onto the smooth stone while Winona's unconscious body continued to roll.

An unsuspecting jogger nearly tripped over the Swellow in the dim light. The girl yelped her surprise as the pokemon beside her bent down to check on the bird.

"What is it, Lucario?" She asked curiously.

The other male pokemon helped the Arcanine up from lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. They joined Cynthia and watched warily, unsure what to do.

Cynthia stepped forward towards the girl. "Maylene," she asked, "is that you?"

The pink haired gym leader squinted at the pokemon. "Oh look," she commented to no one in particular, "a Lopunny! How cute."

The pokemon in question blanched, mildly annoyed. "She can't understand you," Wallace muttered. Maylene's Lucario looked directly at Wallace and the other pokemon who had not yet been seen by his trainer pointedly. He stepped over Winona to get directly in front of Cynthia.

"What are you?" He asked quietly, looking over the Lopunny with eyes glowing blue.

Cynthia paused, entirely unsure how to answer that. In that moment, Charon and Slowking caught up before also pausing at the bottom of the hill, unsure of how to present themselves to the Gym Leader before them.

Maylene echoed her pokemon when she met Charon's eyes. "Who are you?" She asked suspiciously.

"A simple scientist," he answered smoothly. "It seems you have caught my escaped pokemon. Thank you kindly."

Maylene's Lucario snorted, well trained enough to know a lie when it heard one. The fighting type trainer's fists balled up. "Go away," she warned, "I don't know what you did to these pokemon but I don't like being lied to." Cynthia turned and did her best to growl at the man in order to punctuate the point.

There was a pause while Charon thought. Eyes widening, Cynthia realized that Charon was unwilling to let them go. He would fight Maylene's Lucario if need be. Even more worrying, his Slowking had the type advantage.

"Listen," Cynthia hissed, drawing the previously distracted Lucario's attention. "We are in a lot of trouble and need to get away from this man. Please help us."

The aura pokemon scanned her form for a moment before angling its head down in a short nod. Just as Charon ordered Slowking to attack the Lucario the pokemon dashed forward and raked the side of its opponent's face with metal claw.

Cynthia took off running ahead of Lance and the others. The Arcanine thanked Arceus that the other males had thought to put Winona on his back once again as he took off after her. The band of pokemon ran out of the city as the blanket of darkness descended upon the world.

* * *

The group decided to settle for the night in the rather disorganized wilds of Route 214, south of the city. Deciding that it would be safer off of the main route and away from trainers, they ducked into the thick lining of trees around the route and walked a little ways into the cover of the woods. Unfortunately, as exhausted as they all were they could not bring themselves to sleep.

Lance whined quietly with the growl of his stomach. They were unsure of how long they had been asleep, but it had been a long while since any of them had eaten.

"What do we do now?" Wallace wondered aloud from his place beside the still fainted Winona.

Steven sighed. "We have to find a way to become human again," he stated.

The Lopunny beside him bit her lip. "There's something we could try," she began cautiously, "but it may not even work."

"What do you suggest?" Wallace urged.

"The Sinnoh region has three legendary pokemon who live at the lakes. We know from legends that they are extremely knowledgeable pokemon and often help in times of disarray. One such lake, Lake Valor, is just off of this route," she pointed out, "we could possibly ask the pokemon who lives there for help."

Lance's ear's dropped as her looked at her nervously. "Can we do that, though? This isn't exactly an emergency concerning the fate of the world."

"I doubt humans turn into pokemon very often," Steven pointed out, "something has to be going on in order for someone to dispatch the Champions."

Wallace nodded his agreement before yawning. He glanced at Winona worriedly. "When is she going to wake up?" The Floatzel asked to no one in particular. "We don't have any revives on us. What's going to happen to her?"

Cynthia perked up once more. "I might have something for that," she mumbled tiredly before pushing herself up on her feet. The Lopunny stumbled a little bit, trying to shake her head to clear the cobwebs away. The others looked on in concern.

"You should wait until the morning," Steven voiced, "and get some sleep for now."

She waved the Lucario off. "I doubt I would be getting much sleep tonight anyway," the rabbit pokemon yawned out. "Too much on my mind."

"Do you want anyone to come with you?" Lance asked.

The woman just waved everyone off again as she stumbled off into the forest. Wallace yawned once again and leaned against a tree. Lance looked to Steven. "I can stay up to keep watch, if you want," he suggested. Steven shook his head.

"I'll keep watch," he grumbled as he looked up into the branches of a nearby tree.

* * *

By the time Cynthia returned to their makeshift encampment, it was morning. Steven had kept watch for a few hours before calling out to Lance to switch shifts. Lance was the first one to notice the Lopunny's return. Steven nearly fell out of his tree.

"You look awful," Lance whimpered upon seeing the bags under her eyes.

Cynthia chuckled darkly. "Thanks."

Steven climbed back down the tree. "Did you get any sleep?"

The female yawned. "A little," she answered before holding up a bundle wrapped in leaves. "I found the items I was looking for."

Wallace woke up at the sound of the other three talking. "Cynthia's back!" He called out joyfully without seeming inclined to move from the fainted bird's side. "Do you have something to help Winona?"

The Lopunny nodded tiredly and approached the stationary pokemon. She sank to the ground and unwrapped her bundle. She pulled out what looked like a long vine with leaves of varying sizes on it. "Revival herb," the pokemon mumbled by way of explanation. She began plucking the leaves off of the vine.

"These," she explained as she trusted the herbs at Wallace, "get her to swallow these."

Wallace turned up his nose at Cynthia's coarseness. He took the herbs from her and began to work on giving them to Winona. The Lopunny tottered over to a tree and slumped over, obviously exhausted. "There's some berries too," she grumbled before falling asleep. "Breakfast."

Both Lance and Steven looked to the sleeping female worriedly before approaching the bundle left on the ground. Steven crouched down and sorted through the berries. "Cheri, Chesto, Rawst, and Iapapa berries," he explained, pointing at each group. "None of us have any status ailments so we should be fine."

"Doesn't the Iapapa berry confuse some pokemon?" Lance pointed out, nudging one of the berries with his nose.

The Lucario beside him picked it up carefully. "Right," he confirmed, "but it depends on their nature. We don't know our natures."

Lance growled quietly. "This would all be so much easier if we could profile ourselves. Here, I'll try the berry."

Without waiting for Steven's response the Arcanine ate the Iapapa berry out of his friend's paw. He shivered at he bit down on the pulp. "It's so sour," he hissed. After swallowing he licked his lips and leaned in for another.

Steven stared at the pokemon beside him curiously. "You're not confused?" He asked cautiously.

Lance grunted and shook his head, juice from his second berry dripping down his muzzle.

The Lucario took the berry in his hands and rolled it in his paws. Still unsure, the pokemon took a bite.

Lance whipped his head around when he heard a soft thump. "Steven?" He woofed out, swallowing yet another berry. The Lucario in question simply lay there and stared blankly at the tops of the trees. He seemed to try to regain his footing. Ultimately his balance failed him, leaving Steven to fall back to the ground. "I guess you don't like sour berries as much as I do," Lance pondered. The Arcanine continued eating and waited for the confusion to wear off.

There was a sound of protest as Steven sat up with a groan. "That," he grumbled, "was awful." Lance shrugged and continued eating. The Lucario returned to the berry pile and began to gnaw on one of the tough, dry Iapapa berries. He was very much enjoying it when Winona finally woke up with a squawk.

Cynthia did not stir when the Swellow began to squawk and buffer Wallace with her wings. "Ow," he grunted in protest, "hey, honestly now, ow!"

After beating the Floatzel a reasonable distance away, Winona twittered and stood very still. Her panting echoed for a few moments. Steven leaned back so he could see past Lance. He pointedly ignored Wallace, who was gasping dramatically with a paw over his heart. "Good morning Winona," he called out casually.

The Swellow's dark eyes narrowed in on the Lucario. "What- who- how-" she panted in alarm.

Steven pressed a paw to his chest. "I'm Steven," he said slowly. "This is Lance," he continued while gesturing to the Arcanine, "Cynthia's over there on the ground, and the Floatzel you just beat was Wallace." Lance looked at her while tensing his own muscles in case she was unable to calm down properly.

Much to everyone's relief she smoothed her ruffled feathers. The Swellow preened herself with a shaking sigh. "Well then," she huffed. "Good." She finished this part with a sharp glare at Wallace.

His face shifted from alarmed to positively insulted. "I don't appreciate that," he pouted.

Ignoring him, Winona fluttered over to the Lopunny passed out on the grass. "What happened to her?" She asked, leaning in and twisting her neck back and forth.

"She was getting revival herbs for you," Lance replied offhandedly. "And food for us."

Winona looked slightly guilty. "Right." She fluttered over to the other two pokemon. "This is food? I'm famished," the bird said quickly. She pecked at a few of the assorted berries. "Do we have anything sweet here?"

Steven shook his head flatly. "No," he answered, "and in that case you should not try the Iapapa berries. You'll probably get confused if you're craving sweets."

Lance grinned wolfishly. "I love them."

The Swellow nodded in response to both comments before pecking at a Rawst berry. She stuck her tongue out and grumbled over how bitter it was. Wallace picked himself off of the tree and came over to the berry pile. He also went for the Rawst berries that Winona was eating. The Swellow looked confused at how much he seemed to enjoy them. Steven grabbed the last Chesto berry from the ones he had been eating and walked over to Cynthia. After making sure she ingested the berry he grabbed a few of the Cheri berries that were left over. Lance was complaining about the spicy smell.

Cynthia woke up grudgingly. She opened her eyes to see a rather apologetic Lucario offering her Cheri berries. Without saying anything she took a few and began eating them. The Lopunny licked her lips and smiled at the Spicy taste. Steven chuckled before returning to the now empty bundle of leaves.

Once she was done, Cynthia stood up and brushed the dirt from her fur. "If we're all ready it's best if we start making our way for Lake Valor."

"Lake Valor?" Winona twittered, tilting her head slightly.

"We're going there to ask for the help of Azelf, the legendary pokemon of willpower," Lance explained.

"Okay," Winona agreed with a flutter of her wings. "Let's get going then."

"It's not too far," Cynthia commented, "I was by the lake yesterday when I was foraging."

* * *

At the banks of Lake Valor the group ran into a problem. Wallace was very much ready to swim across the lake while Winona had been trying out her new wings the whole way there. Cynthia and Steven both agreed to take turns swimming across with Wallace's support. Lance, however, took one look at the water and jumped away.

Fur bristling, he growled at the liquid stubbornly. "I'm not touching the water."

* * *

**It's been longer than I thought…**

**I'm sorry.**

**-AC**


	4. Azlef

Wallace stared at the Arcanine growling at the water. His expression morphed to one of annoyance with a huff. "This is why I don't use fire types," he muttered, "they're so finicky."

"You don't realize the irony of that statement," Cynthia commented, bemused.

Lance had not taken his eyes off of the water. "I'll just wait here," he suggested, "there's no way for me to get across."

The other pokemon looked at each other. Steven was the closest to Lance's size as a Lucario even though the Arcanine was about two feet taller, with Cynthia about the same. Wallace could swim, but he was even shorter than Cynthia. Winona as a Swellow could barely fly and was the shortest of them all. After a moment the former Hoenn Champion shrugged.

"You have a point," he admitted. "I hate to leave you alone here. Are you sure you will be okay?"

The Arcanine snapped his brown eyes to the other pokemon with a growl. "I'm fine. Just go and see if Azelf can help us."

Steven nodded, a little uneasy from the larger pokemon's aggressive stance. "Okay. We'll go then."

Winona chirped happily before spreading her wings for takeoff. Wallace dove in the water immediately. He came up with a grin stamped onto his muzzle as he shot water out of his mouth. "Let's go then," the Floatzel said impatiently.

The Swellow raised an eyebrow. "You do realize that you have to help Steven and Cynthia across," she pointed out.

He countered her with a rather placating look. "I'm going to make sure that you get across safely first. This is your first time flying after all, and those wings are not built to keep you above water."

"I'm perfectly capable of handling myself," the bird grumbled with a roll of her eyes, "although I suppose that fact will not change your mind."

In answer the other pokemon pushed off of the bank of the lake and stared at the Swellow patiently.

After Winona took off with a sigh Cynthia nudged Steven. He turned his head towards her, red eyes curious. "Those two," she mentioned with amusement lacing her voice, "seem rather conflicted."

Steven let out a chuckle that sounded more like a bark. "He loves her," he pointed out with a shrug. "Even if she rather he did not." The Lucario looked towards the Lopunny once more. "You know?"

Cynthia couldn't help the flare invading her face. "Right." She didn't really do romance.

"Who's first?" Wallace called out to the two pokemon still standing on the riverbank. He balanced his chin in one paw, elbows resting on the bank of the lake.

The Lopunny jumped up, eager to get away from what she deemed to be a rather awkward situation. "I'll go first," she suggested uneasily before looking to the other pokemon for confirmation.

Steven gestured towards the lake and Wallace. "By all means."

* * *

Valor Cavern was rather empty when the pokemon arrived inside. Winona fluttered ahead and looked around, tilting her head to and fro.

"I don't see anything," she announced.

Steven shivered. "Something about this does not feel right," he muttered, "can you feel it?"

Wallace looked at him with curious, dark eyes. "I don't feel anything. Are you okay? You're shuddering like a leaf."

Winona and Cynthia also turned to look at Steven. There was a sharp intake of breath. "Steven?" Winona said nervously. "Your eyes are glowing blue."

The Lucario grit his teeth. Something inside of him was rocking back in forth like an earthquake. His fur began to stand on end and he felt his energy being projected around him. What was it? What had him so on edge? He didn't know.

"Wallace!" He barked suddenly, lunging forward and tackling his friend to the ground. The Floatzel gasped as the wind was knocked out of his lungs. He was about to chastise his friend before he saw a rainbow beam flash where he had been standing. It crashed into the wall beyond, spraying rocks everywhere. "Get down!" Steven commanded.

Cynthia yelped and dove to the ground. Another beam flashed above her head before hitting the wall and spraying rocks and dust. "Extrasensory!" The Lopunny called out in recognition. Winona squeaked as she just barely dodged yet another attack. With a growl Steven leapt off of the Floatzel, eyes blazing. One of the newly scattered rocks followed him in a blue aura. He crouched down as the rock split into pebbles and shot into the dust.

A cry of pain sounded off as the beams stopped momentarily. The Lucario stood up slowly as the dust cleared. A small blue pokemon with two tails lay on the cave floor. "Azelf?" Cynthia yelped, confused. The pokemon opened its eyes with a snarl and rose up into the air. Blank angry red eyes glared out at the offending pokemon.

With a sound that could only be described as a scream Azlef raised its arms above its head. A light blue ball of energy crackled above its palms. A bolt of lightning attached the ball to the ceiling before both disappeared. Steven's eyes snapped behind him once more to another rock. He stared at it, and with a grunt it was lifted into the air in a blue aura. It split in a similar way to the rock before it but this time Azelf dodged.

Wallace, Winona, and Cynthia all moved from their defensive positions. Winona flew to the cave ceiling and hovered. Her eyes snapped around while looking for the lighting or ball of energy. Cynthia launched herself at the dodging pokemon with a kick, connecting solidly. Azelf went tumbling to the floor. It regained its footing and its red eyes began to glow.

"I don't understand what is wrong with it," she called out as she dodged another rainbow beam from the pokemon's forehead gem. Wallace took a deep breath and concentrated. After a moment water began to pool in his hands. He grew excited as it collected in wispy strands and coiled in his paws. As the water gathered it began to encircle faster before being stopped after Wallace was hit with a beam.

He grunted upon making contact with the cave wall. The Floatzel whimpered and crumpled to the ground. Winona cried out in alarm before diving for Azelf from above. She made contact. The legendary pokemon thumped to the ground and rolled. As the Swellow chirped triumphantly a light blue bolt from the ceiling suddenly struck Steven.

Cynthia gasped in surprise as the Lucario cried out and crumpled to the floor. "Future sight," she yelped in recognition. "Steven, are you okay?"

There was a pitiful noise from the floor.

"Winona, watch out," Wallace yelped. The girl looked to the recently tackled Azelf to see it raising back up beside her and preparing to attack. She caught his warning and buffered Azelf with her wings. The blue pokemon was forced to stop its attack and float farther away.

Cynthia grunted as she missed her next jump kick. Wallace succeeded in landing a few fury swipes however. Winona watched her friends fight and waited for Steven to pick himself back up. "Winona!" Cynthia called, "Try to use sing. I honestly don't think that we're going to be able to hold out much longer. We'll tire out before Azelf does."

The Swellow chirped her acknowledgement. She cleared her throat and clacked her beak a few times. Afterward a soothing melody began to emit from her mouth. It began to fill the cave with a peaceful sound. Transparent circles burst from the sound and aimed for Azelf. The legendary attempted to dodge before Wallace dove at it and held in the line of the attack.

Both pokemon were hit by the shockwave and collapsed to the floor.

"Sorry," Winona cawed, genuinely concerned. She fluttered over to the sleeping Floatzel. After a moment of watching him sleep, the Swellow nudged him with a clawed foot. Just as she was going to try other methods of waking him up she heard a cry of alarm from Cynthia. "Another one?" The other woman chirped nervously, swiveling her head to look at the Lopunny.

"I don't…" Cynthia trailed off at the sight in front of her. A shimmering, transparent form swayed in front of her. It seemed sad.

"That's…" Winona breathed.

The apparition looked like Azelf. You could barely see it. It floated in front of Cynthia before disappearing. Both girls looked on in alarm. Moments later, it appeared in front of Wallace's sleeping form. It appeared in front of the recovering Steven who shuddered as he rose. Finally it appeared in front of Winona. After gathering their attention the transparent form blinked to the far wall.

"Why would it go there?" Cynthia wondered even as she padded towards the form. "There's nothing on the far wall in these caves." The three conscious pokemon approached the wall. Footprints were imprinted into the wall. "These are pokemon footprints." She stated the obvious, stumped. Of course there were footprints on the wall. Pokemon lived everywhere – they left footprints everywhere.

The transparent pokemon blinked directly in front of the footprints. Each of the other three pokemon jumped back in surprise. A low hum sounded in the cave, like a sigh. Following the sigh was a gust of wind. There was a whisper that filled the cave on the back of the rushing air.

"Will…extinguish…like…"

"What was that?" Cynthia whispered. The hum came again, louder. It seemed to come from the floating form.

"Will be extinguished…with the like…will be extinguished along with the like…"

Winona looked at the aspiration keenly. "What will be extinguished?" She chirped in confusion.

There was another hum before the form disappeared. The cavern began to shake, rocks falling from the ceiling. All three pokemon stood there in confusion before water rushed in, covering their feet. Their eyes widened in alarm.

"Run!" Steven barked, dashing for the cavern opening. He grabbed Wallace on the way out as both female pokemon passed him. The Floatzel groaned in protest, still not fully awake. With a grunt, the Lucario hefted the other pokemon over his shoulder. A passing glance was tossed to the slowly awakening legendary as he hustled for the door. The scream of outrage it uttered chased him out of the cavern.

* * *

Lance whimpered in alarm when the cave in the middle of the lake began to sink. He forced himself to step up and look into the water for his colleagues. Wallace appeared first with a gasping Swellow. The Arcanine made room and looked on curiously as his friends heaved out of the lake. "What happened?" He barked in surprise.

Wallace grunted as he tossed a sputtering Winona out ahead of him. The Arcanine onshore noted her awkward positioning and gripped a wing gently between his teeth. He tugged the Swellow completely onto land. Steven and Cynthia came up sputtering soon after and Lance helped them out of the water next.

Winona panted and stared at the sky, feathers slick with water. "Right," she huffed, "Cynthia. What was that?"

The Lopunny was spread eagled on the soft grass, lying on her stomach. She lifted her muzzle off of the grass in order to speak. "Something was very wrong with Azelf. It has the peculiar ability to let its spirit leave its body at will. Unfortunately I'm thinking that something else pushed Azelf out and is controlling its body."

"That's awful," the Swellow mumbled.

"Even worse," the Lopunny continued thoughtfully, "there are two other lakes with legendary pokemon living in them. If the legendary pokemon are being threatened we have a real problem on our hands."

Wallace rolled to look at the other pokemon. "What are we supposed to do?"

Lance sat back on his haunches. "We are going to rescue them," he answered seriously.

"If nothing else it will be our best shot at turning back," Wallace pointed out.

Cynthia thought for another moment before sitting up. She looked over at Steven's prone form. "I hope you are feeling better," the Lopunny said to the male.

Steven cursed his inability to suppress the grimace crossing his face. "It's fine, although I know I will be sore for a little while. An oran or sitrus berry would probably to wonders for my condition," he grumbled.

The Lopunny sighed. "There is a tree of sitrus berries back near the top of the route. They weren't quite ripe yesterday so I didn't want to pick them. We could go back and get them today, but it would slow us down dramatically," she explained, biting her lip.

"I can go get them," Lance suggested, hopping up on all fours. His paws danced across the ground with excited energy.

Steven shook his head. "You don't have opposable thumbs to pick the berries," the Lucario pointed out.

The Arcanine stilled and thought about that for a moment. "I can move a lot faster without someone on my back," he began, "so if I'm going it alone I will just gnaw th

e branch that a berry is on and leave the rest."

"Okay," Cynthia agreed. "Before you go we should figure out where we are going." She turned to face the other pokemon and addressed the group. "There are two more lakes in the Sinnoh region. They are Lake Acuity and Lake Verity. Both are a good distance away from where we are. We can get to Verity lake in a few days, but we have to cross Mt. Coronet in order to make our way to the other lake."

Winona tilted her head. "I'd rather go to Lake Verity first," she twittered.

"I agree," Steven grunted as he finally got to his feet with the others.

The Floatzel hopped to his feet. "Which way Cynthia?" He asked, looking around.

Cynthia pointed to the south. "We will go south to Pastoria City. Once we make it through the city we'll head west to route 212. If we make it halfway through the route today, then we can rest there. Policemen patrol the northern half of the route at night because of the Pokemon Mansion."

She paused and looked to Lance. "Can you meet us just south of here, in Pastoria City?"

He nodded. "Stay away from trainers," the Arcanine warned. The pokemon then turned tail and galloped away from the lakefront.

Wallace shook his head to ward away the anxiousness pooling in his stomach. Getting captured was not an option. The Floatzel stood with the others and prepared to go. He looked over Steven with a critical eye. "Are you okay to walk?" The other male grit his teeth as he stood.

"I can walk," he hissed apologetically, "but it might be slow going."

* * *

As the crossed from the route into Pastoria City the group stuck to the tree line. Winona fluttered between low branches of the trees above Cynthia. She forged ahead underneath the Swellow. Wallace and Steven lagged slightly behind. The Floatzel continued to check his friend for pain. If Steven seemed exhausted they would stop for a short break.

On one such break the Lucario brought up the question that had been nagging him for a few days. "Who was that old man with the Slowpoke?" He asked Cynthia.

The Lopunny looked down in thought for a moment. "His name is Charon," she began. "He is a member of the defeated crime group Team Galactic."

"The group who tried to summon Palkia and Dialga?" Wallace asked.

"Succeeded in summoning Palkia and Dialga," Cynthia corrected with a shudder. "He got away after the initial arrests. The International Police arrested him at Stark Mountain. Charon was trying to summon Heatran there."

Wallace raised his eyebrows. "That was not part of the official statement you gave to the other League members."

The Lopunny ran a paw down the side of her face with a longsuffering sigh. "We didn't want to alarm anyone," she explained. "Team Galactic was broken up for the most part and most of the grunts had been arrested."

"How did he get out?" Steven asked.

Cynthia shook her head. "I don't know." After a pause she continued. "What I do know is that we can safely assume he is still associated with the team. I would not be surprised if he was behind Azelf's strange behavior. This is a serious problem – these people were never after expansion or money or power. Their goal was to destroy our world to make an ideal one."

"Whose ideal world?" The Lucario said darkly.

"Cyrus was the old leader," Cynthia answered. "But he is not in charge anymore."

"Why-?" Winona's question was cut short by a growl behind them. She gulped instead, swallowing her question. "It seems we're in someone's territory. Let's keep moving."

* * *

At the edge of Pastoria City the pokemon settled to wait for Lance's return. After another half hour the Arcanine skidded into the clearing. A well-gnawed branch was set in his teeth with two sitrus berries on it. He spat it onto the ground. Triumphantly, the Arcanine sat back on his haunches.

"Thank you Lance," Steven acknowledged gratefully, plucking one of the large berries off of the stick. After he finished eating he stretched out. "Much better."

"Great," Wallace admonished. "Now let's try to get to the westernmost part of route 212 before the sun sets."

They traveled in the trees for a while longer before coming to a large river system. A few hills towered over the flat ground and water, connected by thin wooden planks for bike riders. There were a few wooden bridges crossing the area, but nonetheless they would have to go out in the open. To make matters worse it had begun to rain. As the drizzle began to pour down harshly, Wallace spoke up.

"I can take myself across with one other," he said.

The other four pokemon looked around at each other. Lance frowned. "Not that I think Wallace could carry me," he began, "but I'm not getting into the water. I'll take my chances running across."

Winona nodded with the Arcanine's statement. "I will not waterlog my feathers too much if I can avoid it," she pointed out. "If I can get to the first hill above those bridges, I can glide between the hills without coming in contact with the trainers."

Steven also took a look at the hills. "If I could get up there I could probably run on those thin planks," he suggested with a nod at the wood connecting the hills.

Wallace smiled lazily at Cynthia. "I guess it's you and me then," he purred with a smirk.

Both women shot him venomous glares. He put up both paws in defense. "Joking," he lilted. Steven felt something stir in the bottom of his stomach. If his friend liked Winona so much then he would do well to keep his flirting in check.

They set off, Winona gliding for the first clump of trees sitting on a hill. Steven caught a ride on Lance's back before throwing himself onto the high point. The Swellow shielding her wings in the trees watched carefully. On his less then graceful landing she winced. "Are you okay?" She twittered nervously.

Steven shook himself off, ridding his fur of water. His pelt was quickly soaked once more from the downpour. "Just fine," he answered before eyeing up the plank he would be crossing. "Let's just get across."

Winona burst from the tree and began to glide for the next one. Upon landing there was a garbled sound that crossed between a shriek and a squawk. Steven dashed across the plank and covered himself from the rain underneath the tree. "Winona," he called up, "are you alright?"

There was another squawk before the Swellow crashed onto the ground in front of him. She squawked once again as a rather aggravated Staravia dove on top of her. The angry mass of feathers the two formed slipped off of the hill. With a surprised gasp Steven rushed over the edge to watch.

Both pokemon narrowly avoided being seen by a collector standing on the land below. They rolled away from him and into a puddle before breaking apart. The Staravia chirped angrily. Winona glared and jumped at the other bird, slapping with it with her wing attack. It was buffered back successfully. In anger it tackled her in a quick attack, tossing them both into the water.

There were a few tense moments when neither bird reemerged from the water. All of the sudden there was a great splash, revealing both birds struggling to push the other under. Winona came up first, hacking and coughing. After a moment the Staravia flailed out of the water and beat Winona back down. Steven's eyes widened in alarm. He needed to call Wallace, knowing that Winona would be unable to get out on her own. The Lucario couldn't see Wallace or Cynthia through the rain.

"Wallace!" He bayed loudly, "Wallace, Wallace!" The Lucario called until his throat went raw. Then he went back to monitoring the two birds. Winona would start to catch her breath every once in a while before being dragged down again. The Staravia was as panicked as she was. Steven's heart dropped when Winona went under for a long time, and the frantic splashing stopped.

In that moment an utterly furious Floatzel jumped out of the water and tackled the Staravia back under. The bird let out an alarmed shriek, waving its waterlogged wings. Wallace bared his teeth and growled. As the offending pokemon fought to stay above water Wallace built up a ball of water in his hands like he had tried against Azlef. This time he succeeded in firing a water pulse, the resulting wave crashing into the Staravia and pushing it back to shore, knocked out.

The Floatzel then turned around the water eyes scanning the area around him in panic. After a moment he dove down beneath the water. When he reappeared, Winona was held under one of his arms as he moved on his back towards land. Steven watched the Floatzel swim until he disappeared before following across the lake.

* * *

Cynthia was absolutely sure now that rain made everything more miserable. She had been thrown onto a small bit of land blocked by two trees. Wallace had gotten upset when he had heard Steven's call. The Lopunny was rather alarmed too since she had never heard the man raise his voice. It did not change the fact that the woman had been forced to scale the slippery branches of one of the trees that blocked her path to the rest of the route.

She was glad to see Winona safe despite the cuts that leaked blood that matted her fur. Lance had arrived under the cover of trees first, using extreme speed to dash past the trainers in the way. When Cynthia had arrived he sniffed her to check for injuries. Steven appeared next, still very much wound up.

"Are Wallace and Winona here yet?" He panted.

Both Lance and Cynthia shook their heads. "What happened?" She asked. "We heard you calling for Wallace."

Steven recounted the story between Winona and the Staravia.

The Arcanine's ears laid back flat on his head. "Is she okay?"

"I think so," came the disgruntled response. The group turned to see Wallace trudge into the cover of the trees, dragging the unconscious Swellow with him. Once she was settled on her back Winona rolled over with a groan and began to cough up water. She then brought herself behind a few bushes and began to throw up even more water. Wallace looked on, concerned.

"I think we should settle down for the night," Cynthia finally said. "We're all tired."

"Don't forget cold and wet," Winona grumbled as she returned to the group.

The Floatzel sat down with his back against a nearby tree and held out his arms. With a sigh the exhausted Swellow sat next to him with her head in his lap. "I'm only sleeping here because you saved me," she defended preemptively, "and because its too cold for anything else."

Lance hid his chuckle along with the other two uninvolved pokemon. He curled up against a different tree. "You guys are welcome to sleep over here," he invited, "I don't feel very cold at all."

"That's because you're a fire type," Steven pointed out. He joined Cynthia in resting his head on Lance's stomach. It was warm.

The Lopunny gave a contented sigh. "Let it be said that an Arcanine is the best body warmer around."

"Hear, hear," Steven chanted.

Wallace smiled brightly once he was sure Winona wasn't looking. It really didn't matter if Lance was the warmest one. He was just happy he got to watch over Winona for the night for the second time in a row.

* * *

**Four thousand words? Yaaaay~**

**-AC**

**Review for update initiative. Yes?**


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